By Alexandra Sharp
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a Ukrainian drone strike on Moscow, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to Poland, and Hezbollah attacking the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
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Overnight Assault
A “No Drone Zone” sign sticks to a pole in Moscow’s Zaryadye Park on April 20, prohibiting the flying of unmanned aerial vehicles in the area.Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images
The Kremlin accused Ukraine on Wednesday of having launched one of its largest overnight drone attacks against Moscow since the war began in February 2022. Russian forces said they shot down 45 Ukrainian drones, including 11 over the Moscow region, 23 over the Bryansk region, six over the Belgorod region, three over the Kaluga region, and two over the Kursk region. No injuries or significant damage were reported in the Moscow or Bryansk regions from the assault; one woman was killed and two other people were hospitalized in a drone strike in the Kursk region, according to the region’s acting governor.
“This was one of the biggest attempts of all time to attack Moscow using drones,” Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said, adding that strong defenses around the capital made it possible to stop all the drones before they hit their intended targets in that region. Kyiv previously targeted Russia’s capital in July 2023, when drones struck two nonresidential buildings (including one near the headquarters of Russia’s Defense Ministry), and in November 2023, when Moscow said it stopped more than 20 drone attacks just one day after it launched its own massive drone operation against Kyiv.
The assault comes as Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region stretches into its second week. Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council and a former Russian president, said on Wednesday that there will be no peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv until Ukraine is completely defeated on the battlefield. On Tuesday, Ukrainian military chief Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi said Kyiv’s troops have advanced up to 35 kilometers (or 21.7 miles) and captured 93 settlements in Kursk since the assault began on Aug. 6.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the incursion aims to create a “buffer zone” to prevent cross-border attacks, disrupt Moscow’s economy, and “destroy as much Russian war potential as possible.” It is unclear, though, how long Kyiv will be able to control the territory, especially as Ukraine continues to lose ground in its eastern Donbas region.
Still, the incursion has raised Ukrainian wartime morale and changed the battlefield’s dynamic. Ukraine damaged or destroyed at least three bridges over Kursk’s Seym River this week, which could trap Russian troops between the river, Ukraine’s border, and Kyiv’s advancing forces. According to Russian state news agency TASS, 31 people have been killed and 143 others have been injured since Aug. 6; Foreign Policy was unable to independently verify these numbers.
Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Chechnya for the first time in 13 years on Tuesday to inspect Chechen troops and volunteers prepared to fight Ukraine. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said the North Caucasus republic has deployed more than 47,000 soldiers since February 2022, including 19,000 volunteers. Kadyrov has often described himself as Putin’s “foot soldier,” and in 2017, 2020, and 2022, the United States sanctioned him first for alleged human rights abuses and then for mobilizing Chechen troops against Ukraine.
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Today’s Most Read
What We’re Following
Modi courts Eastern Europe. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi traveled to Poland on Wednesday for talks on security issues in Eastern Europe before flying to Ukraine on Friday to “share perspectives” on a possible resolution to the war. That will be the first trip to Kyiv by an Indian prime minister since the two nations established diplomatic relations in January 1992.
Modi has previously avoided condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while also calling for a peace settlement. Moscow is India’s top oil supplier, and Modi and Putin remain close allies despite the Indian leader’s numerous conversations with Zelensky at the sidelines of the G-7 and other major summits. Last month, Modi faced heavy criticism for visiting Moscow and hugging Putin, particularly after his two-day trip coincided with a deadly Russian attack on a children’s hospital in Kyiv.
While in Warsaw on Thursday, Modi will meet with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Andrzej Duda to potentially sign a strategic partnership agreement that would bolster tech, cybersecurity, and defense collaboration, according to Polish Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski. Poland has been a major donator of humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine since the war began.
Tit-for-tat strikes. Hezbollah militants in Lebanon launched more than 50 rockets at an Israeli military base in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights on Wednesday. Israel said several private homes were damaged and at least one person was injured. Hezbollah said the attack was in retaliation for an Israeli strike on an alleged weapons storage facility in eastern Lebanon late Tuesday, which killed at least one person and wounded around 30 others; the Israeli operation hit deeper inside Lebanon than many past attacks.
In a separate strike on Wednesday, the Israeli military said it killed Khalil al-Miqdah, a commander in the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. The organization, which the United States, European Union, and others consider a terrorist organization, is a loose coalition of armed groups associated with the Palestinian Fatah party and collaborates with Hezbollah as well as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades confirmed Miqdah’s death.
Fear of a wider regional conflict continues to escalate as hope for a cease-fire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas dims. Egyptian mediators expressed skepticism on Wednesday about the prospects of the U.S.-backed “bridging proposal,” which includes a controversial Israeli demand to retain military control over the Philadelphi Corridor, a strip of land between Gaza and Egypt. “Hamas won’t accept this because it virtually means Hamas will release the civilian hostages in return for a six-week pause of fighting with no guarantees for a negotiated permanent cease-fire,” an Egyptian official told The Associated Press.
Taliban crackdowns. Taliban officials in Afghanistan announced on Tuesday that they have dismissed more than 280 members of the organization’s security force this past year for failing to grow a beard, a requirement under the group’s strict interpretation of Islamic law. The Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice also said it detained more than 13,000 people for “immoral acts” during this time. Around half of those detained were released after 24 hours; the ministry did not specify what the acts were.
The Taliban took power in August 2021 and have since cracked down on those they view as violating Islamic law. On Wednesday, the Taliban barred United Nations special rapporteur Richard Bennett from entering the country for allegedly “spreading propaganda.” Bennett previously called the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls, including barring women from education and policing their dress, as amounting to a crime against humanity.
Much of the international community refuses to recognize the Taliban government. However, the United Arab Emirates accepted the credentials of a Taliban ambassador on Wednesday. This was the first time that a Taliban ambassador has been recognized since China accepted one last December.
Odds and Ends
While delegates at the U.S. Democratic National Convention jammed to popular songs, including Dropkick Murphys’ “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” and DJ Snake and Lil Jon’s “Turn Down for What” in Chicago on Tuesday, Londoners were waking up to a far different soundtrack. In a Thames far, far away, a visiting German Navy ship blasted Star Wars’ iconic “Imperial March” during a training and supply stop on Monday. Despite sailing to Darth Vader’s theme song, a German spokesperson said the sinister choice held “no deeper message,” adding that “the commander can choose the music freely.” The Force is strong with the German Navy.
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